It was also a fine start for England in the defence of their title with Simon Middleton's side scoring 10 tries and laying down a marker to the rest of their rivals in Ireland, having already headed into the tournament as the number one ranked team in the world.

Forwards Poppy Cleall, Amy Cokayne and Justine Lucas came off the bench to make their first appearances at the tournament to take the tally to 12 debutants on the day

Meanwhile, full back Waterman and centre Burford as well as replacement prop Rochelle Clark made their fourth appearances at a World Cup while centre Scarratt, who came on at half time for her 70th England appearance, crossed with one of her first touches of the ball.

Happy Hunter

England captain Sarah Hunter expressed her delight with the win post match, but admits there is room for improvement.

"We're really happy to get a good win under our belts, get the first game done and for us that is job one done," she said.

"Spain came at us and caused problems at times. We had to work out some areas and really dig in but it's pleasing to get a run out. There is certainly a lot for us to look back at and improve on for our next game." "It's tournament rugby and you have to win every game..."

She added: "In the build up to this tournament and since being here the focus has very much been on us, we haven't really acknowledged external pressures that others are putting on us, we are very much one job at a time and today was just about Spain and preparing as best we could to come here and execute.

"It's tournament rugby and you have to win every game that is put in front of you, so it's a job well done for the girls, we will rest, recover and look at what we need to improve on ahead of Italy."